ZAKA statement from site of today’s terror attack in Jerusalem

This morning (July 14), a terror shooting attack took place at the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem. Two Israelis were shot and evacuated in very critical condition to hospital. The three terrorists escaped into the Temple Mount compound where, following a police chase and gun battle, they were killed.

After consulting with the ZAKA Rabbinical Council, two ZAKA volunteers went to the Temple Mount compound to evacuate the bodies of the terrorists, after immersing in the mikve (ritual bath) and removing their shoes, in keeping with the halacha. The other ZAKA volunteers waited outside the Temple Mount compound.

ZAKA volunteer Shimi Grossman: “This is a very difficult scene. I arrived at the scene on my ZAKA motorcycle. Two of the wounded were in critical condition and, together with MDA teams, we began CPR. The wounded were evacuated to hospital and ZAKA volunteers remained to clear the scene. There is another incident scene within the Temple Mount compound, with the bodies of the three terrorists. A second team of ZAKA volunteers are working there.

Rashi in Parashas Vayeitzei tells us that when a tzaddik dwells in a town, he is its glory, its beauty, its grandeur.

Naflah ateres rosheinu—the crown of our heads has fallen. One of the tzaddikim of the Five Towns/Far Rockaway community, Rav Ahron Brafman, zt’l, was definitely all of that and more. He was a tzaddik in every sense of the word.

The Five Towns/Far Rockaway community is a different place now that he has passed away. It is a community that was visibly changed by his presence here for close to five decades.

He was one of those rare individuals who combined profound erudition in his Torah knowledge, deep humility in his character and deportment, and a heart whose remarkable compassion for others knew no bounds.

Even as a young man, he had a warmth that was unbelievable. Reb Ahron would be welcoming to other young men—even as a student. Rav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, one of the four roshei yeshiva of Beis Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, fondly remembers Rav Ahron being mekarev him at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath:

At YFR Kinus Teshuvah: Michael Spiegel, host; Rabbi Yechiel Perr, rosh ha’yeshiva;and Rabbi Ahron Brafman, menahel“Rav Ahron was a special person. This is a tremendous loss. He had a ruach taharah. He was such a warm person. I was learning in a different yeshiva in Boro Park and that yeshiva unfortunately closed, so I transferred to yeshiva Torah Vodaath, and I knew no one. Rav Ahron befriended me and took good care of me. Over the years, I kept up with him. Rav Ahron was a tremendous talmid chacham with vast and broad yedios. He has a teyereh mishpacha. I was zocheh to be the shadchan of one of his daughters. I am close with his son and his other aidim (sons-in-law).”

Rabbi Yechiel Perr, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Derech Ayson–Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, spoke at the funeral in Eretz Yisrael. He spoke of Rabbi Brafman’s genuineness of character, saying that he had no airs and no “shtik.”

Menashe is a good and simple man. But even according to his fictional family members, while he might be a pious man, he is first and foremost a “schlemazal.”

The new film Menashe is showing in movie theaters in or near Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, as well as the Malverne Theater in nearby Malverne, New York, a short distance from the Five Towns.

The first matter of interest is why this film was made in the first place. It is certainly a fascinating look into an otherwise private and insulated community that does not necessarily appreciate having the light of day cast on the intimate details of its everyday routines.

Menashe is just an average chassidic man who lives simply, dresses in traditional chassidic garb (white shirt, black vest, etc.), and is dealing with everyday struggles that many people deal with regardless of how they identify in terms of religion or any other type of lifestyle affiliation. That he is a chassidic man is an eye-opener of sorts, as the suspicion might exist that worldly problems have not yet figured out a way to penetrate our community. They certainly have.

Menashe is a widower; his wife apparently passed away at a young age. They had one child who in the movie is now about ten years old. The child’s rebbe believes the boy should live with his wife’s brother and his family because of the more conventional family structure. Balance of this essay can be read at 5TJT.COM ... See MoreSee Less